Will communities of online learning (CoOLs) provide the Virtual Learning Network with the resourcing it needs to be sustainable and continue to develop? Or will they unleash an open educational marketplace that has the potential to undermine public schooling? JUDE BARBACK looks at the most polarising element of the Education (Update) Amendment Bill.

This year’s election is about to hove into view and it’s time once more to consider everybody’s pitch. National Standards is a flagship government policy that’s very much on the line, with the controversy and opposition to its introduction nearly a decade ago refusing to go away. JAYLAN BOYLE considers again some of the main objections and invites Labour’s Chris Hipkins to discuss his version of a post-National Standards world.

JUDE BARBACK visits New Zealand’s first partnership school, South Auckland Middle School, and talks to Alwyn Poole about the joys and challenges of getting a new school up and running amidst staunch opposition.